Here Are The Ad Types Facebook’s Instant Articles Will Allow

Facebook officially unveiled its Instant Articles product today, which allows publishers to host their content directly with the social network, and to sell and insert their own ads alongside it. Details are now emerging about how, exactly, advertising will be incorporated with that content.

As first reported by the Wall Street Journal, Facebook said it will let publishers keep 100% of the revenue generated from advertising placed in Instant Articles content, provided they sell and serve the ads themselves. Alternatively publishers can let Facebook sell the ads on their behalf through its Audience Network product, and keep 70% percent of the resulting revenue instead.

If publishers choose to sell their own ads, they’re free to insert those ads onto Facebook’s pages using any “ad serving” tool they wish, the company said, including those offered by companies such as Google and AOL.

In terms of ad formats, Facebook has guidelines in place for the types of ads publishers may include in their Instant Articles. Those guidelines are as follows:

1 large banner ad, sized 320×250 or 300×250 pixels – or – 2 small banners sized 320×50 or 300×50 pixels for every 500 words of content.

A maximum of 4 total ads per article, and a maximum of 2 small banners per article.

All articles are allowed to have at least one ad, regardless of the length.

Publishers may include no more than one house ad per article.

No ads may be placed “above the fold” on the first view of the article.

Publishers may not include ads in autoplay videos embedded in their articles, although ads in third-party video players are allowed.

Some publishers are running their own custom ad units inside Instant Articles, however. BuzzFeed, for example, is running a link to a branded post that appears similar to the ones on its own website homepage.

“We are working with our early partners to understand their ad requirements and define guidelines that support their business models,” a Facebook spokesperson said.